U's legend Peter Wright feels Colchester United’s record-breaking unbeaten start to the season can be the platform for a promotion push.

Colchester’s 2-2 draw with Dagenham and Redbridge saw them extend their run without tasting defeat in npower League One to nine matches.

That equals the unbeaten sequence Wright and his U’s team-mates managed, back in 1961.

The U’s went on to finish as runners-up in the old division four, that season.

And left-winger Wright - winner of the Gazette’s Colchester United’s Player of the Century poll in 2000 - feels John Ward’s side can be a force this season.

Wright told the Gazette: “It’s always important to get off to a good start.

“If you can do that, the confidence is high right from the start and you can go on from there.

“I’m really encouraged and there’s a lovely atmosphere at the moment, which is reflected in the way that they’re playing.

“The only real downside so far has been all of the draws.

“Last year, it was our home form that kept us up there.

“But even though we’ve won two of our away games, we’ve drawn all but one of our home games this season when we’ve been ahead in all of them.

“The disappointing thing is that we haven’t managed to finish teams off and we need to get that second goal.”

For more on this story and all of the latest U's news, including Marc Tierney's exclusive weekly column, see Thursday's Gazette.